Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Title: Scarlet
Author: A.C. Gaughen (her website)
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Synopsis:

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.





Review:

I'll start by saying how much I LOVE the story of Robin Hood. He's a hero if I've ever read of one, not even Spiderman can succeed him. Now that that is settled....
This story is amazing! It's a seriously awesome retelling of the Robin Hood story in Will Scarlet's POV. What's so amazing about that? You may ask? Well, first off knife throwers are deadly and seem to have a liking for the mysterious rolls in books and/or movies, and secondly, Will is a she. Don't worry, you read me correctly, Will Scarlet is a girl dressed in a disguise that even fooled Robin at first. Girls can kick butt, too :) But, before I get into detail about Scarlet, I have a few things to say.
The setting of this book is in the times of the Crusades for the holly lands in Europe (thank you world history) and King Richard I. Now, I'm going to give you guys a few details i learned from the "Authors Note" in the back of the book. In this time Prince John really did tax the people of the kingdom horribly to pay for the Kings ransom when he was captured in the Crusades. The whole thing, apparently happened in England, and, in this story, it's mainly focused around Nottinghamshire. Also, historians believe that Robin Hood really was an outlaw in the 12th century.
Something I really like about this book is the fact that Scarlet's past isn't immediately put out for the reader to see. The author gives then a little bit at a time and some clues that leave you guessing and wondering what made her the way she is.
Now, I'll move on to the characters.
Will Scarlet is your regular, moody, knife throwing thieve...or, at least, that's what she wants you to think. Scarlet dresses as a boy for multiple reasons that are relieved throughout the book. I like to think that the main reason has to do with the fact that it would be nearly impossible to run, kick and fight in a dress. Scar is very good at hiding her emotions so it would be easy to think that she is fearless. But that's far from true. She is just is better at hiding it more than most people. Or just hiding from fear in general. Throughout the book, I've come to admire Scar as a character because of all the traits she possesses, the good and bad. She can be almost exactly like Robin (see below) but also very different. She, like him, have gone through losses in her past that left her with scars that aren't as visible with the one on her face. Scar is truly one of the strongest characters in this book and there's so much about her that is revealed in the book and not in my blog.
Robin Hood is a born leader. He knows responsibility and sacrifice and loss and that's what makes him a strong leader. I've had a crush on Robin Hood my entire life because of what he does for the his people and just because he's, well, him. So this book has a huge appeal ;) Anyway, Rob's characteristics are very...mixed. He has his moments were he can be very deep or blunt. He can be the nicest, most calm guy in the world or he can be angry. He can be fierce or concerned. And above all, hero-complex prone. Bottom line is that Rob has many sides that are revealed in the book. True, he's moodier that most retellings but he's also only 21 and in a teen book and he has to deal with Scarlet... so he has the right.
John Little is a big guy. Muscles wise and in height. He throws punches that make you cringe just thinking about how horrid it would be on the receiving side. He is, as Scarlet puts it, a charmer. You know, the kind of guy that like to toy with girls but not to be mean, just for some fun. Actually, he's a very nice guy, always being the protective big brother and using his muscle and heart to look after others. In my opinion, that's what makes him such a great addition to the band.
Much has had a hard life, like most of the band, his hardship started with his family in need of food and ending with his hand being cut off from stealing. I see Much as shy and sometimes not very confident of himself. He  has a habit of taking hard comments and critisism hard. Even then, he has a way of charming people in an entirely different way than John. Some people just feel bad about his hand and other just like him because he's a nice kid. Either way, Much is a loyal addition to the group dispite his handicap.
The Sheriff is a bad man from afar and crueler up close. Through the book you don't see to much of him, he's just like a presence that you know is in the book...at least, until the end. He like to think that the he cares for the people of the villages he oversees when the truth is that all he cares for is the money that they are forced to give him. Typical, money hungry villain... and not the only bad guy in this book.
But I won't say much about the other "bad guy" so moving on.
I like how in this book, the author incorporated the narrator's (Scarlet's) way of speaking. She has horrible grammar (Ex: I were fearless)  but it matches her as a character and the way she speaks. I will admit though, the first time I read this book (I'm on the third now since I got it last Friday) I felt like cringing a bit. Luckily, so many other things (Characters, plot, action, awesomeness, etc.) superseded that. Actually, I've been so enraptured by this book that I've had to catch myself and try not to speak like Scar. Her expressions are pretty catchy and so is the accent I imagine her having with her words.
Now, on to the ending...
I honestly love-hate the ending.Love because of obvious romantic reasons that nearly had me saying "Awwwww!" every second. Hate because of the fate of a certain character that is not very liked (by "not very liked" I mean "extremely detested"). But you all can read the book and find out more that certain someone's fate.
I'm highly anticipating a sequel and I'm crossing my fingers hoping that it will happen because I think that the book has so much to grow off of. It has so many things that seem to end with loose ties that i want to see tied up and not hanging...so basically I really want to see a sequel. Okay, maybe i just really want more Robin but that's not a crime...it just have to dodge Scar's knives.
I realized, about two days ago, that this book has to be one of my new top favorites. I've been telling anyone who will listen about the things that go on in the book until they are only pretending to listen. I even gave the book to one of my friends to read and she came back with it smiling and saying she really liked it and how much some parts shocked her. We had a ten minuet discussion on the middle of English class.
I could co on for days so I'll stop myself by saying that this books broke my rating scale with it's incredibleness (it's a word now) so i'll have to go with the closets rating on my scale... an A+ for everything I wrote in this blog and all the little things I didn't reveal in my blog due to spoilers or lack of room. I highly recommend this book for any and all Robin Hood fans, fans of books where the girl is a bad A** who isn't always running and hiding and being saved, books that just plain rule and basically if you enjoy YA.

Dead Rules by Randy Russell

Title: Dead Rules
Author: Randy Russell
Release Date:
Synopsis:

When high school junior Jana Webster dies suddenly, she finds herself in Dead School, where she faces choices that will determine when she, a Riser, will move on, but she strives to become a Slider instead, for the chance to be with the love of her life--even if it means killing him.

Love wasn't all red paper valentines and candy hearts. Sometimes love was despair. and sometimes love was wrong. Jana loved Michael enough to kill him for it. Jana loved Michael to death.

Review:

Dead Rules has sort of a psychological thriller vibe to it. Yeah, not my usual daily read but not any less entertaining.
When the book first started, I was confused. I didn't realize that Jana was in the Dead School, I honestly didn't think that she would be the one to die either. Sometimes I don't read the back off a book because I want to be surprised when something happens. For this books, though, i did read the back and what I discovered was just a cryptic little paragraph thing. "Love wasn't all red paper valentines and candy hearts. Sometimes love was despair. and sometimes love was wrong. Jana loved Michael enough to kill him for it. Jana loved Michael to death." I thought Jana going to go psychotic and murder her boyfriend. Turns out that I was wrong.
Anyway, throughout the book the author introduces a bunch or characters from the Dead School and with each new character, a story of their death follows. in a way all the deaths seem sort of Final Destination with the spontaneous way they happen. One minuet you're riding a motorcycle, the next, half your face is smeared across fifty feet of asphalt... What really sucks for the people of the dead school is that however they look like when they die is how they look for the rest of their afterlife.
Well...onto slightly less morbid topics...
Jana is the main character of the book. Her death the product of a practical joke gone awry, but that's all the detail that I'll give you about her death. (You guys can find out more if you read it and if you have read it, then you know what I'm talking about.) To me, Jana seems slightly disturbed, mentally speaking. Something about her seems off when the author focuses around her thoughts. She has this insane idea that because she died, her boyfriend can't live on with out her. The very thought has her convinced that she has to kill him so they can live together at the dead school. Yeah...insane with a capitol "i".
Mars isn't your typical bad boy... at least not totally. Most of the students at the dead school see him as incorrigible and all around bad news because he is a Slider. Sliders are people who died while doing something bad and they are closer to earth then the Risers (people who died that aren't Grays, Virgins, or Sliders). Anyway, what some of the other students don't see is that he is more than just another rule-breaking Slider, but I'll let you see what I'm talking about by reading the book... overall, Mars is smart and determined. He has a habit of thinking about others since his death and that had really changed him and made him drawn him and Jana sort of closer... no matter how in denial she can be.
Avra is the kind of person that is 100% by the book. She's very disapproving of the Sliders and Jana's association with them throughout the book. She can sometimes get annoying with her "Better-not" attitude and way of trying to tell Jana what to do but she's just trying to look out for others.
Wyatt is Mars's best friend in his afterlife and it's easy to see why. With only half a face and a bad limp, he can still be funny and occasionally upbeat despite his grotesque looks.
The last character i'll talk about is....wait for it....Michael. He's still alive, don't worry. Anyway, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because of later events. Michael seemed like a good boyfriend, from Jana's memories. Loving, loyal and all that good stuff. They seemed perfect together and they were widely known around there school and town as Webster and Haynes. It makes Jana's death all the more tragic.
As much as I liked the book, the Dead School didn't make a lot of sense. I mean, I get that it was is was designed to make dead kids to feel "normal" but where do all the dead people go who are to old for the high school scene. Not all of them can be teachers...right?
Moving on from that short rant. The ending for this book was as good as an ending can get. It ended in a way that gives the reader a sense of closure without there needing to be a sequel. But, that doesn't mean a sequel wouldn't be welcome. There's a lot of things that would be great to expand on (Mars and Jana in particular).
Well, on that note, I'll end this review by saying this book deserves the rating of B- because despite the few things I may not have liked about it, there were a lot of good things, too. The whole story was like mystery mixed with a psychological thriller mixed with a horror. Recommended for anyone who thought this book was interesting either because of my review or the synopsis, anyone who likes a good ghost story/ romance and/or someone who, like me, is/was looking for something different to read.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Synopsis:

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.



*Spoiler Alert... it's mostly just stuff you get in the beginning so unless you really don't care as to whether or not some aspects of the story are revealed to you before you can read it...stop now and come back later...you've been warned ;)...if you have read the book please continue :)


Review:

I couldn't put this book down after the first page. It's addicting and intense. And it's not just because of the story line (though that was truly amazing). What made it a million times more amazing was the writing style. It portrayed the main characters thoughts in a way that was like nothing I've ever read. The use of imagery and metaphors and similes was, in a word, beautiful. The way it was written made it obvious that the character (and the author) see the world with different eyes then most. I really loved where she explained the sun set and how the sky "falls down every day." She was able to reach into the characters head and take lay every thought down on the paper. Tahereh Mafi is the kind of author whose style and mind could never be replicated.
Continuing on...This book has the whole dystopian society going on. Basically the world has nearly fallen apart and this group who call themselves the Reestablishment has taken over. Like most governments in dystopian books, they say they are doing good for the people when it's actually the opposite. They aren't the only thing that's wrong in the world. The clouds are the wrong color, food is scarce, and animals that people once hunted for food are poison. While everyone starves, the people who run the Reestablishment eat and live like nothing is wrong... Yeah, they do a lot to help...
Juliette has a gift, but at points, it might as well be a curse. She can't touch anyone for fear that she would kill them. (Imagine Rouge from X-men and her power but with more screaming.) Because of this she draws into herself and stays there for days at a time and even then she's nice to people who wouldn't hesitate to throw rocks at her or lock her up for 264 days. Throughout this book, her character has grown, becoming stronger and begining to take action. I noticed that Juliet's writing became less unsure and not as many things were being crossed out. It was a good way to show her growth as a character and how much things changed her. I don't want to go into too much detail about how her character had grown, so I'll stop by saying that she has easily become one of my favorite heroines.
Adam was locked up with Juliette in the beginning but not because he is insane or dangerous. He was sent in to watch her and see if she was or wasn't insane. Nice, right? The sad part is that Juliette knows him from several years ago and he didn't seem to even remember her...even after years of going to school together. To me, Adam is the kind of person who has had life throw everything back at him then laugh at his face. Not that he let it keep him down...he's grown from his struggles, everything has made him stronger and determined to keep others, especially a certain person, safe.
Warner is the son of the leader of the Reestablishment. He is malicious and has knack for getting what he wants. In this case, he wants Juliette. Nearly everyone, even her own parents, see her as a monster, Warner sees a weapon. He's convinced himself into thinking that Juliette is just like him, but that's a far cry from the truth. He's the kind of person that doesn't take care much about human lives, save him own. The sad part is that he had tricked himself into thinking he could love Juliette, or maybe he's just in love with the idea of her loving him...That's something to think about.
There are a few more really cool characters but I'll hold off before I start saying anything about them, mostly because they introduced later in the book. You guys deserve to build you're own opinions too, you know ;)
Anyway. I really like the ending of this book. It melts pretty well with the rest of the plot line even if it was a little surprising. You get a strong sense of safety and temporary closure for the characters which come sometimes be lacking in books with multiple installments. And like I said before, this story had me hooked by the first sentence and now I can hardly stand to wait for the rest of the trilogy. So, my rating for this book is a well deserved A for the amazing story line and captivating writing style. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes dystopian books, superpowers, something-different-from-the-usual, YA fantasy books and/or anything X-men.